Friday, April 02, 2010

Pelham Graded School (Caswell County, North Carolina)

1905 Chapter 720. Page 880. An Act Amending chapter 407 OF the Public Laws of 1903, Relating to the Pelham Graded School. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Five trustees. Trustees continue in office. Additional trustees appointed. Trustees elected by voters of district. Vacancies.

Section 1. That chapter four hundred and seven of the Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and three be and the same is hereby amended by striking out all of section two of said act and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Sec. 2. That there shall be five trustees of the school in said district. That the persons now holding the position of such trustees shall continue in such office until the first day of June, one thousand nine hundred Additional trustees and five. That F. D. Swann and J. O. Fitzgerald be and they are hereby appointed as such trustees to serve for a term of two years from the said first day of June, one thousand nine hundred and five. That W. H. Baise be and he is hereby appointed as such a trustee to serve for a term of six years from the said first day of June, one thousand nine hundred and five. That on the second Tuesday in May, one thousand nine hundred and five, there shall be elected by the qualified voters of said school district two persons from among the qualified voters of said district to serve as such trustees for a term of four years from the said first day of June, one thousand nine hundred and five. That such election shall be conducted in the manner prescribed for elections of members of the General Assembly. That at the general election of county officers for said county in the year one thousand nine hundred and six there shall be elected by the qualified voters of said school district in the manner prescribed for the election of members of the General Assembly two persons from among the qualified voters of said district to serve as such trustees for a term of six years from the first day of the following June. That at the general election of county officers for said county in the year one thousand nine hundred and eight and each second year thereafter there shall be elected by the qualified voters of said school district from among the qualified voters of said district, in the manner prescribed for the election of members of the General Assembly, successors or a successor for the trustees or trustee whose term of office expires on the thirty-first day of the following May; the persons or person so elected to serve as such trustee for a term of six years from the first day of the following June. All vacancies in said board of trustees caused by resignation or otherwise shall be filled by the remaining members of the board by a majority vote until the next general election, when such vacancies shall be filled by election as hereinbefore provided."

Branch School.

Sec. 2. That said chapter four hundred and seven of the Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and three be and the same is hereby further amended by adding at the end of section seven thereof the following: "and to establish and maintain a branch school In said school district at such point as to them may seem best"

Sec. 3. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times, and ratified this the 4th day of March, A. D. 1905.
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James Obediah (Mr. Jim) Fitzgerald moved to the Pelham area of Caswell County, North Carolina, in the latter part of the 1900's. There he built and operated a general merchandise store. On May 23, 1893, he was appointed Pelham Postmaster, remaining in that position for 47 years. The post office was located in the same building as the store. He also operated a grist mill near the store.

He became very interested in the growth of the community, and being very thrifty bought several farms -- around a thousand acres. He donated the land for a school at Pelham and became a trustee of the first public school duly incorporated by the General Assembly of North Carolina in 1903. This school was known as Pelham Graded School.

He was instrumental in helping to get the railroad through the community and donated land for the project. Rooms were built over the store in order that the developers and workers on the railroad might have a place to stay during the week.

Pelham had two stores early in its history. One was on the Wright farm next to the home-house and was run by Charlie Wright. The other was Jim Fitzgerald's Store, which also contained the Pelham Post Office, as well as rooms upstairs to house railroad workers and other local workmen. This was a general merchandise store which sold any and everything available from shoe strings to a gallon of "lasses". Mr. Jim was postmaster for forty-seven years, followed by his son, Paul Vincent Fitzgerald, who also ran the store. Later when a new post office was built, William Ward ran a store there.

Source: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 50 ("Pelham" by Louise Carter).
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The F. D. Swann mentioned in the above legislation probably is Flemming Dudley Swann (1855-1921). Note that a daughter of Flemming Dudley Swann (Elizabeth D. Swann) married a son of James Obediah Fitzgerald (Benjamin Reese Fitzgerald).
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